Random Detox » Ateneo

Death of a Chicken in Ateneo

Flisha — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:01:00 +0000

My little sister, M, came home today with a big story to tell.

She had just participated in the PEiesta 2009, it’s an annual all-day PE event for students of the Ateneo.

She was ecstatic that her team won, and I gave her my congratulations. And then I asked her what games she participated in.

Her answer made me cringe.

There was this one game. Let’s call it the chicken game, one for the boys and one for the girls. M wasn’t exactly sure what the rules of the game were (I’d been asking about it the previous night, see). All M knew was that the person who got the chicken first won. I had visions of a chicken running all over the backfield while girls screamed and chased after it. It seemed pointless, but at the same time terribly funny to watch.

Back to the PEiesta. Let’s do this bit present-tense.

The girls go first. Someone, the referee maybe, carries a live, clucking chicken into the gym, in the middle of a gaggle of girls. The girls are antsy and excited. And maybe a little too strung up.

Suddenly, the man throws the chicken high into the air. The chicken drops to the ground, and instantly the girls rush into a frenzy. They pull and push and claw, each trying to keep ahold of the panicked animal, screaming and acting like a crazed mob, intent on ripping the animal alive.

M doesn’t even remember how it ended, whether somebody had succeeded in keeping most of the chicken to herself, or if the mania just gradually elapsed. All she remembers is that at the end of the madness, the chicken was a broken carcass, feathers and blood flung carelessly over blue cement.

I was horrified at M’s story. I couldn’t stop laughing, at first. But, migod, when she told me about the poor chicken and how it had died… It was just very shocking to me, that something so cruel and inhuman could happen at the hands of these young and innocent girls. And that it was encouraged and instigated by the school. (Read a firsthand account from an Atenean student here.)

You would think that the boys’ event would have been canceled at the very least. But no. The only difference was that this time, the chicken wasn’t thrown into the air, and the boys managed to keep the chicken alive.

It was just a chicken.

But.

Still.

Tags: Ateneo, Personal

A Toast to Mentors

Flisha — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:49:00 +0000

To me, a true teacher first and foremost has a genuine concern for his students (a prerequisite to and implies the ability to inspire). Proficiency is secondary. A great teacher, however, has a glass-brimming-full of both.

Sir A is that kind of teacher. He cares, gives a shit, inspires and all that. I honestly respect him to the highest level. I was (am still) having confidence lows about my thesis and he IMed me and gave me perspective. He’s busy with his own PhD thesis but he had no qualms about being my MS advisor (alas, a higher power had qualms about it, natch). He’s now just a panelist in my thesis, but given the degree he’s encouraging me and lifting my spirits, it’s as if he were my adviser in all but name.

Sir A is also all kinds of proficient in CS. It’s amazing how he can take a theory-intensive subject like grad-level Computer Architecture and parse it such that it’s fun to learn (believe me, a CS core subject is normally a snooze fest) and makes sense to even a little kid (his poor niece).

This post is a toast to great teachers like Sir A. I’m feeling so drifty and alone in the project I’m undertaking but Sir A reminds me I’m not. He taught me two core courses in a row the past year and I look up to him in the highest level possible. (He’s up there with Fr. Denny, my college prof, in the category of “best teachers in the world”.)

This world needs more teachers like Sir A (and Fr D.).

—-
Reason for this post: (stop reading if you don’t wanna hear me rant and whine.)

I am supposed to be working on my thesis proposal. I’m due to defend it in two weeks. But I’m blogging. I’m procrastinating, as always. That’s because I feel bad.

I feel really, really, really discouraged right now. I blog about happy things to pretend I’m not feeling so down. But my shoulders are drooping so low I must look (figuratively) hunchbacked right now.

Wanted Sir A to be my advisor, but like I said, it didn’t happen even if he was up for it. I got an advisor assigned to me, and I don’t even know this person. What if I don’t like him? What if he doesn’t like me? What if he’s not coddling type???

I need a cheerleader most of all, I think. I’m so scared right now I won’t be able to do my thesis. Scared it’s gonna be rejected. Scared it’s not gonna get published. Scared it’s not gonna be the best possible project I can make it.

Scared, scared, scared. Hay.

I just want this thesis over with ASAP.

Tags: Academics, Ateneo

Talk It Out

Flisha — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:07:00 +0000

I am SOOO stressed. I need to talk it out.

I am in the middle of my research proposal. I am SO tired of crawling through ACM and IEEE and SpringerLink and so many other journal databases just looking for my “jackpot paper” as one of my professors called it.

I started out thinking it would be so easy to propose. There are so many problems out there just begging to be solved by Computer Scientists (hehe) like me. I decided to tackle health problems, and I was thinking of ZCMC (a public hospital from my hometown) and the myriad of problems the doctors have there (lack of tools and too many patients). So my first idea was to create a program to make doctor-patient communication more convenient, thus a remote patient monitoring system. Sounds like a potential app, right?

I submitted that proposal but got lots of negative comments, like the idea being so old its worn off its soles already. It didn’t matter that ZCMC did *not* have that app nor needed it quite badly, what mattered that it already existed (many versions of it in fact) in the world. So I had to prove that my idea was new. Not only that, but I also had to solve a computer-related problem at the same time, or else my thesis would be rejected for it not being “under the CS domain”.

Uuurgh. This is so complicated. I thought I was taking Computer Science so I could solve real-world problems! That’s what I really want. But no, it turns out I have to solve a Computer Science problem using Computer Science. That’s irritating me!!! I don’t wanna solve a Computer Science problem because those kinds of thesis aren’t usually USED. They just get published. Because only really really great solutions get used, and I think maybe the folks at Google have got that covered already.

*sigh* So now I’m taking a look at Human-Computer Interaction, which is a field directly under the CS umbrella, but at the same time I can see it solving a lot of real world problems. Think Apple and the iPhone. But my professor says that I have to be careful in formulating my research proposal because I have to defend it being a CS problem (as opposed to an HCI prob… hayayay).

Computer Science is so complicated. Why am I even in this field??? (I should just stick to blogging about Youtub. Gahhh!)

Tags: Academics, Ateneo, Google, Tech

Dreaming of Japan

Flisha — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Detox Tip #9: Dream, and dream big.

Ever since I’ve come back from Japan, I’ve been thinking of ways to get back there. I really did fall in love with the country and its people, in such a short time. I guess you could call it love at first sight.

It’s weird because I’ve never really dreamt of going to Japan before. It was always my anime-freak of a sister who kept yapping over and over about Japan ever since… hmm, Sailor Moon, probably. Hehe. She collected everything Japanese, actively participated in anime fanclubs, watched anime channels 24/7 and formally enrolled herself in Japanese studies. I just could not relate.

A bitbefore Christmas last year, a mass email was sent to my department promoting a two-week internship over at NAIST, Japan. I was very interested — anything free appeals to me greatly, hehe. The next mass email was an application form, but in the excitement and rush of the season, I kinda forgot about it, until a day before the deadline, my professor sent me an email asking if I was still interested.

I briefly thought not to apply anymore, as I didn’t feel good enough to be accepted. Me? An intern in Japan? It was better for my heart not to hope. But Flishi-sense won over, the part of me that has always insisted on never ever EVER submitting an exam sheet with even just one blank answer, because even if my grow-up-get-over-it brain told me the answer was uselessly wrong, my hopeful joyful heart always believed there was an off chance it was right, or maybe an intsy bitsy part of it. I never let a chance pass me by. So I hurriedly composed my application form and emailed it off within the hour.

I mailed it shushing my squealing heart to forget, and I really tried my best for almost two months. In February, the results came in. I was in!! I was in!! I was gonna go to Japan! For two weeks! For free! OMG!! OMFG!!! I actually jumped in joy for about two minutes, shrieking and laughing and at the same feeling oh-so-scared it wouldn’t actually come to pass. Good thing I was alone. I’d have freaked out anyone who saw me. I called up Gim immediately and told him, and we both jumped up and down a bit more. I told my mom, too, and my sister. But nobody else yet. I didn’t want to tell, just yet, because maybe it wouldn’t come true, ‘coz I had so many documents to process in such a short time – my passport, my Visa, the lifting of my travel ban (I’m a government scholar) , my final exams and requirements…

Long story short, I actually got to finish up everything just in time. I was even able to squeeze a weekend trip to Baguio with my friends (but that’s another story), hehe, to the distraught of my laboratory partner Chris, hehe, because we were on a deadline to pass our mobile application. He was chosen to come to NAIST, too. But we did it, and got a perfect grade, too. Hehe. Go team!

Anyways, we left for Japan on March 9, thoroughly enjoyed our two-week Japanese immersion (more of that on later posts) and came back on March 22. During our time there, we met a lot of really nice people. Topping my list are organizers and tourguides Edison, Albert and CC. Hehe. I also got to know our fellow interns Clare, Emarc, Ma’am No and Ma’am Cathy, all from the Engineering Department.

One exciting thing accomplished during our trip was an agreement between ADMU and NAIST to have a student-exchange program for the next few years. It was such uplifting news to me, because it means I could have another chance at going back to Japan to study as an exchange student. I’m not setting my heart on this, though, because it’s a university-wide program, so there will be many students vying for the chance, and only 3 slots open. Also, financial assistance will not be given by either universities, so that kinda rules out any chance of me going there. I can’t even afford a one-way ticket to Japan, let alone a whole year of board and lodging. So *sigh* there.

But one thing I can do is hope, hehe. I’m full of that. And try to do everything in my power to inch myself closer to my dream. I’ve been scouring for possible scholarships, but so far, no luck. It seems I should have done that a long time ago, all the scholarships for the next school year have far passed their deadlines. I’m trying to make a bit of money, who knows, maybe blog ads could actually work for me heheh (sorry for the eyesores). Anyways, even if I don’t get in this year, maybe in a few years I will.

For now, I’m setting my sights on learning the Japanese language.

Ateneo de Manila University currently offers a Japanese language course, Nihongo for Everyone. It’s from April 19 – June 21, 9:00 – 4:00 PM every Saturday and costs P5,000 (P4,500 for Ateneo students and employees). At the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to express and understand simple Japanese as well as recogize basic Japanese characters.

The University of the Philippines Diliman also offers Japanese courses. I recently browsed their site and found a PDF stating their special summer courses. They have the Beginner’s Regular 1, 2, 3 and 4 from April 5 to June 14, each costing P7,200. They also offer a short course, much like Ateneo’s, with 3 schedules: April 21- May 3, May 5-May 16, or May 19-30. The course lasts 40 hours and costs P4,000.

But what I’m most interested in is UP’s Beginner’s Short Intensive, lasting 180 hours from April 21-May 30, 5 days a week, 7 hours per day, with the objective of passing the Japanese Language Profienciency Test 4. It costs P16,000. Hopefully I’ll be able to afford it, haha.

I don’t know if I’ll really make it back to Japan. I hope I will. But if I won’t, at least I can tell myself it was not for lack of trying.

Tags: Ateneo, Japan, Japan, Manila, p1, Tips

Melisse’s Graduation

Flisha — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:52:00 +0000

Time flies so fast. Can’t quite believe it’s been 9 years since I graduated from Ateneo High. 9 is the number of years I am older than my youngest sister Melisse. And that means she is now on her way to college. It feels so weird to be 25 when most days I feel like I’ve not matured past the age of 16. Hehe.

The graduation rites took place on March 28, the day I came home from Manila. I had time for a bit of rest and recreation with my boyfriend Gim before heading on to the Ateneo de Zamboanga University main campus. The MPCC was full and uncomfortably warm when I got there, and I was reminded of why I hated attending graduation ceremonies, even my own. Thankfully I was neither in toga nor the Filipino formal wear barong tagalog, but a comfy pair of jeans.

I missed seeing my sister claim her diploma on stage, but I did catch her the second time she took the stage, for the loyalty award. Too bad the thing is no longer worth than a piece of paper (a certificate). During my time, loyalty earned you a gold medal. Does AdZU High no longer value loyalty as much these days??

My sister walked so fast on stage I never a got a good shot, but here she is.

Melisse with my mom and me. My sister Patricia could not attend, she’s working in Manila. And of course my dad is nowhere, somewhere and everywhere. Gim took the pics. Hmm.. we don’t look very much alike.

Melisse with her classmates. Would she kill me if I outed her special friend online??

Teachers in their colorful barongs.

The new grad herself.

Tags: Ateneo, Manila, Personal, Zamboanga

Under Pressure

Flisha — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:18:00 +0000

The final week of the first semester is fast approaching. I am under pressure. Beyond under pressure. I am taking four subjects – heavy ones, all of them.

Programming Languages and Paradigms, Theory of Algorithms, Computer Simulatin and Modeling, and Business Data Mining.

One last week of classes and then the finals exams week. And four major projects to go. I’m doing a Java program, studying Lisp and C++, I’m trying to solve NP-complete problems (trust me, don’t even bother trying to understand its definition), running data analysis on pregnant mommy datasets and simulating the future of the Philippines. All to be submitted in two weeks.

And right now I am just so so so so exhausted. And my nerves are about to leap off my forehead, I think.

And what am I doing??? Blogging.

I am about to go crazy.

Therefore, I am thankful for the precious few moments that I had fun here in Manila. And these pictures represent some of those moments. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of myself. Waaah. But here are some I took of old and new friends.

Here are pictures of the ANC debate. Henry and Al and Jamel came over for the debate against UP Manila.

And yey, they won! Which means they’re coming back this month for another round. Don’t forget to watch and vote!

Al and Henry, the Light and the Treasure. Hahahah. I love it.

This set of pics is more recent. Roel, a former classmate, celebrated his birthday and invited all of us ADZU faculty here in Manila for a party at his house.

It was a lot of fun, ‘coz I hardly ever get to go out with friends here, and making new friends is really a necessity nowadays. Hehe.

Gosh how pitiful my life has become…

I really hope for more parties to come.

Which is why I am sooo excited for sembreak! In two weeks I’ll be going to Dapitan to meet my boyfriend and spend a whole month with him!

A whole month of being loved!! I am so excited! I can’t wait!

Tags: Academics, Ateneo, Manila

Ateneo Celebrates 17 Years of Fr. Bill Kreutz

Flisha — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:28:00 +0000

Detox Tip #1: Watch superhero-costumed colleagues dance and prance on stage.

Fr. Bill is leaving Ateneo for good – after serving 17 years as our President and resident Superman. Everyone’s so sad to see him go, he’s done so much for our school. He’s the reason a whopping 30% of our students are receiving scholarships (I was a fully-subsidized scholar myself). He’s also helped established significant programs like the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines (which, at some point or other, I’ve wanted to join). He oversaw the rise of a new Ateneo HS campus in Barangay Tumaga. AND he helped establish Ateneo’s School of Medicine, where my boyfriend Gim has been studying for two years.

Which is why last March 28, the entire Ateneo community gave the best show it ever had for Fr. Bill’s despedida party. College teachers danced in skimpy superhero costumes, office employees spoofed Kris Aquino’s Deal or No Deal (redubbed “Bill or No Bill”, hehe), senior administrators displayed their best Fr. Bill impressions, and that night, we witnessed the longest fireworks display in Ateneo history.

It was a fun night. The food was great – there was a lot. Hehe. And that makes it great, because I’ve never attended an Ateneo community party (where all 1000+ people are present) where food was not a problem. Last Christmas was totally tragic – I’ll spare you the gross details, but the good thing about it was that the catering company decided not to make Ateneo pay for its services because they were totally crap.

Anyway, like I said, everything was so organized it was amazing, I didn’t think Ateneo was capable of that. Great lights, great fireworks, great show, great food. I even got to taste Lechon Baca (Roasted Cow)! It was weird, tasted dull and chewy. I pity the Muslims, hehe, their Lechon doesn’t taste as good as ours (Roasted Pork). Oh and it was a bit ironic – there was still a bit of a food prob. The point of having Lechon Baca was so that the Muslims would not feel left out, they could eat Lechon just like us Christians (see, they don’t eat pork, it’s bawal in their religion, they can’t even stand the smell of it) – but during serving, Gim and I noticed that the waiters served both Lechons with the same utensils, hehehe. So that made it kinda pointless. We only hope they didn’t notice.

The celebration ended at around 10pm. Gim and I played computer monopoly all throughout the night. We finished at around 12midnight, can you believe?!? We are so obsessed. I am, mostly. Hehehe.

Off-topic, Gim’s moping as I’m writing this. He’s leaving for Dapitan on Monday, for his month-long self-punishment, er, outreach. It’s something the School of Medicine forces its students to do every semester. He doesn’t want to go. He’s so obsessed with me, hahaha. It’s a good thing. Absence makes the heart fonder, like I always say. Heheh. Only, who will bring me home every night??? Waaahhhh!!!! Don’t think of that, don’t think of that, don’t.

On a brighter note, it looks as though my debaters and I are actually gonna make it to nationals! We’ve come up with 35,000 pesos, courtesy of different ADZU organizations. Oh and thank you so much, Fr. Bill, we got 10k from him! Now all we need is around 10K more and we’re set for PIDC! Wee!

Tags: Academics, Ateneo, Fireworks, Holidays, Photography, Tips

Ateneo Fiesta Debates 2006

Flisha — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:26:00 +0000

Whooh. The debates are finally over. This is the second time I’ve organized a debate tournament (for reals!). Unlike my last experience, this one has been beset with incredulity. While I would rather not dwindle on life’s negatives, still I’d like to clear out certain things.

First of all, no part of the tourney was compromised for any reason. True, one of the participating debaters (Ikee) was the Chief Adjudicator’s (Gim) brother. True, Gim is my boyfriend (oh how true . And true, the Tournament Director (me) was also the trainor of one college (CSIT). What a mix for compromise, huh? But there was none.

For the sake of transparency, here are the tab results. This list is ordered by wins. Educ2 (Henry, Raisa and Espi) breezed through the eliminations with a record of 6-0. There was no seventh round so the entire column is marked 0. The next four teams (CLA2, Acc2, CLA1 and CSIT2) tied with a record of 4-2. The last of the breaking teams (Educ1, HS1, Acc1) tied with a record of 3-3.

Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Wins
Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Wins
EDUC 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	6
CLA 2	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	4
ACC 2	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	4
CLA 1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	4
CSIT 2	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	4
EDUC 1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	3
HS 1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	3
ACC 1	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	3
BSN 2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
BM 1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
BSN 1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2
CSIT 1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2
HS 2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2
EDUC 3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

To determine the rankings of the tied teams, we have to look at their team scores, which follow below. Thus the top 8 breaking teams are, in order: Educ2, CLA2, CSIT2, Acc2, CLA1, Educ1, HS1 and Acc1.

Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Team Scores
Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Team Scores
CLA 2	259.5	265.5	265	265	266	267.5	1588.5
CSIT 2	262	264.18	260.67	261.5	262	266.5	1576.85
ACC 2	261	259	262	261	265	263	1571
CLA 1	255	258	258	257	258	260	1546
EDUC 1	260	263	264.67	268	265	266	1586.67
HS 1	255	256	260	254.5	261	259	1545.5
ACC 1	257	258	255	259	251	257	1537

To determine match-ups for the quarterfinals, we followed the Swiss-Draw Matching System (strong teams versus weak teams to protect strong teams and ensure the high quality of the final round). Thus, Educ2 met Acc1. CLA2 met HS1. CSIT2 met Educ1. And Acc2 met CLA1.

Who won? Predictably, the stronger teams. Educ2, CLA2 (Ems, Christian, Diana Rose), CSIT2 (Mark, Ikee, Philip) and Acc2 (Alain, Jae, Kittey). So how did we determine match-ups for the semi-final rounds? Here it gets a bit messy. We weren’t all that sure. First, we decided to pit CSIT2 versus Acc2 and CLA2 versus Educ2. This was a decision based on the team scores of the quarterfinals round (where CLA2 garnered the highest marks and Educ2 garnered the lowest marks). We announced this.

Henry and Ems came up and questioned our decision. We waved them away, saying, well, that was the result based on quarterfinals team scores. But afterwards, we questioned ourselves. Was it the fairest way to make the match? I had my misgivings. Adjudicators have different ways of giving scores, though we try our best to standardize them. At the time, I felt that Henry and Em’s teams were the best in the tournament. Was it in the tourney’s best interest to pit them together? Wouldn’t it mean a lower quality debate if one of them was killed in the semis?

So Gim and I convened again. This time we looked at the elimination rounds’ tab results. Educ2 and CLA2 were the top two teams, based on the elimination rounds. So we made new match-ups. Strongest versus weakest. And so, we pitted Educ2 versus Acc2, and CLA2 versus CSIT2.

Who won? In a really surprising turn of events, NOT the stronger teams.

Henry and Alain’s round was judged by Gim, Randy of Educ, Noriel of CSIT, Adriel of HS and Michelle of BSN. Alain later on complained that while Henry was represented by Randy, the Accountancy team was not represented. Furthermore, a certain adjudicator was biased against him (not Educ’s rep). That worried me. I told him, it’s OK. Gim is there. He’ll make sure the round will be judged rightly. The panel deliberated for 45 minutes. What was the result? Four adjudicators gave the round to Accountancy, and one gave it to Education. Which was okay. Loyalty is valuable, so long as it does not compromise the decision. And the biased adjudicator? He let go of his bias.

Ems and Ikee’s round was judged by Al-Zhoheir of Accountancy, Mashod of CSIT, Jamel of CLA, Michelle of CLA and Raisa of Education. Again, due to a lack of adjudicators and the shortsight of myself and Gim, CSIT lacked one representative as CLA had two. But fortunately, that did not pose a problem. What was the result? Four adjudicators gave the round to CSIT, and one gave it to CLA. Again, loyalty is valuable as long as it does not compromise the decision.

And that was how we got the teams for the final round. Accountancy versus CSIT. Alain’s team versus Ikee’s team. The adjudicators were Gim of Nursing/Medicine, Al-Zhoheir of Accountancy, Flisha (me!) of CSIT, Jamel of CLA and Randy of Education. In a unanimous decision, we all gave the round to Accountacy.

No compromises. Just pure passion and cold logic.

P.S. Congratulations, Accountancy! You won it fair and square.

Tags: Academics, Ateneo

A Sunday in Zamboanga Ecozone

Flisha — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 06:17:00 +0000

Tags: Ateneo, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Zamboanga in Google Earth!

Flisha — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 08:30:00 +0000

Linabo’s Video

Flisha — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 07:30:00 +0000

Last April, Gim and his classmates (they’re taking up Medicine) went to Dapitan to immerse themselves in the community life of a greatly underprivileged area. They were sent to Barangay Linabo, where they witnessed families so poor that they (some up to 50) shared a single dilapidated toilet with no sewage sytem (and the human waste accumulated, unhidden, on the ground).

Gim’s mission is to solve as many of Linabo’s problems as he can. Through, of course, a concerted group effort. For the next three years, Gim and his team will be visiting Linabo intermittently for the implementation of their devised community health plan.

As part of their awareness project, Gim contracted me for video editing a month ago. He gave me his team’s raw footage last week. This morning, they presented their video and data to the School of Medicine.

Here is the finished video.

Tags: Ateneo, Dapitan, Tech

Da Vinci with the Jesuits

Flisha — Sat, 20 May 2006 06:11:00 +0000

Thursday night the Jesuit priests of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, dressed in simple white shirts and pajamas, determinedly marched up the aisle in Mindpro Theater to watch the Da Vinci Code.

As they entered, the packed moviehouse stared in pleasant surprise and grinned. In an instant, the crowd got livelier and more animated – perhaps discussing the Jesuits, perhaps anticipating the movie.

None relinquished their expensive seat up to a priest but many were a friendly greeting, and many pointed out the vacant slots. The priests settled themselves in the center of the theaterhouse, and gradually we all quieted down as the movie began.

As Gim and I observed from time to time from our vantage point, Fr. Kreutz gestured and discussed animatedly with his fellow priests throughout the whole movie.

(Many questions burned in my mind: Was watching movies in a public theater a regular thing for Jesuit priests? Why was Fr. Bill so interested in watching this movie? Were they rooting for a negative portrayal of the Opus Dei, their archnemesis, or not? Had they all read the book already? What were their opinions on the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene?)

We noticed, too, a lot of familiar people in the audience. I saw Brian and the SACSI people, Ma’am Ivy (the Asst. Senior Dean) and the CSIT bunch, my former highschool classmates turned new Nursing graduates, businesswomen in power suits, college kids and their friends / partners, whole families and all. I’m sure the lower moviehouse housed a host of Ateneans as well.

But enough about the crowd. What about the movie? All I have to say is: Good movie. I recommend everyone to watch it. But read the book first.

Usually whenever a book is made into a movie (or vice versa), the first question always is: Which is better? For the Da Vinci Code, the answer is: neither is better, both are terrific, for their own aims anyways.

Read the book to appreciate the plot in detail (which the movie couldn’t possibly capture in only an hour), watch the movie to appreciate the setting (which the book ably described, but still, a picture paints a thousand words).

If you are, however, going to watch this movie with high expectations, don’t bother. It won’t move you, it won’t discuss Jesus’ divinity in-depth, it won’t stir up discussion about Christianity or the Crusade, it won’t address everything that made the Da Vinci Code book controversial.

But it’s a good movie – the perfect visual supplement to the novel.

Just remember – don’t believe everything you read.

Tags: Ateneo, mindpro, Movie, Zamboanga

Zamboanga’s Worst Fire

Flisha — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 08:45:00 +0000

March was supposed to be National Fire Prevention Month for the Philippines. I even saw a banner in front of the Zambo Fil-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade heralding the event.

Thus, it is painfully ironic that Zamboanga’s worst fire in history happened last month.

This is the aftermath of a huge fire that razed almost ten hectares of residential land in Camino Nuevo, Zamboanga City barely two weeks ago. More than a thousand families were displaced and some lives (including a child who was barbecued on the spot by a burning wooden post that fell on top of him and a guy who volunteered to help others stuck in their burning houses) were lost.

The fire began at around 7pm, a bit after rush hour. (Gim and I usually go home around this time but on that particular day we went home early, at half past 5, so we didn’t know about the fire until late in the evening) Firefighters rushed to the scene but the fire was blazing in the center of Barangay Camino Nuevo and all the roads inside it were too narrow for the trucks to reach. And when I say the roads were narrow, think of a Bichu-bichu (a very compact minivan) occupying the entire width of the road all by itself. The fire was put out by 1am but, by then, Barangay Camino Nuevo had been all but wiped out.

The official report on the origins of the fire cite a boy who left a lighted candle in the altar of their house, which began the horrifying blaze when the candle fell and burned the house to the ground. Rumors abound, though, that the fire was actually arson, to drive squatters away and to be able to build a road in the center of the affected area. I hope, though, that these rumors are false. Though it’s plausible, I hope no one in my city is evil enough to want to destroy a thousand lives for a single road. At the same time, I wonder whether the official report is true. The house mentioned was too close to the main road for the fire to not have been put out quickly and efficiently. I remember, two years ago, there was a big fire (though nowhere as big as this one, and that one, I was witness to) in the exact same spot. They said the fire began from faulty electric wiring or something like that. A boarding house was affected, but no one was killed, to my knowledge. And the fire was contained quite speedily, which makes me wonder why this recent fire was allowed to burn for so long and actually reach the center of the barangay, which firetrucks could not have access to.

But anyways, what’s done is done. I only hope that Zamboanga City learns from this tragic mistake. Hopefully we will finally have a fire hotline implemented instead of a landline number that is hard to memorize. And hopefully the city’s infrastructure will be improved (read: less squatters, wider roads)

For the kind hearted, donations are welcome. Cash and cheque donations may be forwarded to the Ateneo Grade School Principal’s Office. Please make all checks payable to Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

More pictures of the remains of Camino Nuevo below. (All pictures were taken from the fourth floor of the LRC Building in Ateneo.)

Tags: Ateneo, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

My Debate Experience

Flisha — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:20:00 +0000

Best Adjudicator, Yay! Well, OK, to be very honest it was a tie with a guy from Davao. Urgh, it was my personal achievement moment and I had to share it with an ugly earthling. Nonetheless, it was fulfilling after my last MPDC’s fiasco, that is, when Gimmi my darling boyfriend slash best debater of them all, was almost brutally murdered by unworthy of calling themselves debaters “debaters” who, unfortunately, were pathetically eliminated from the breaks at the fateful hand of yours truly, best adjudicator of them all. ‘Course, last time, they nearly wished me dead.

Crazily, my bad deed was an indirect effect of my good deed. It all began when I chaired the first round of debates. Of course I chaired, having aced the adjudication exam, no sweat (sorry, the MPDC turns me cocky, though I don’t have one). Two debaters paneled with me, and feeling quite sweet and generous, I recommended one of them as a chair for the next round. Who knows how they recommended me, though, since in the next round, my previous panelist did chair while I was demoted to a panelist status! Ack! My dignity! Demolished. And so it persisted in the next few rounds that I kept on paneling and never chairing, having lost my edge.

Finally, in the last round, I paneled with my fellow ADZU adjudicator and a chair from a school I forgot. I had failed in my duty to my debaters, I felt, since now it was a moot point to think that I would in any way belong to the top ten adjudicators. This was crucial, since it would mean that I would eventually help adjudicate the finals round. The only way I could contribute was by eliminating the competition. And I did just that. Threw my average reasonable mind off the building and wore the vengeance-help-me-do-this-dirty-deed cap on my head. Long story short, I influenced my student adjudicator to bow down to my wishes and made the chair want to take me by the neck and strangle me till I acceded to an average reasonable decision. I didn’t, my student adj didn’t and neither of us made it to the breaks.

Breaks night came and I didn’t go, leaving the outraged debaters to gang up on my baby boyfriend demanding him to hand me over so they could skin me alive. Six to one, my poor baby. They beat him up to a pulp and left him for dead.

Just kidding! The other ADZU debaters saw his plight and came to his rescue, and the average reasonable mind enforced peace on earth. For that brief moment, anyways. Finals came and no ADZU adjudicator paneled, woe was us. Ultimately, the enemy won. All my fault.

That was a year ago, the 10th MPDC. I haven’t gone since. Well, until now. The 13th MPDC. I was forced by our contingent to adjudicate since no one else could. Of course, the free trip and registration helped.

Anyways, this year everything happened differently. I put my average reasonable mind to use and didn’t go berserk when our best debater slash ‘I know I’m a god but even gods can have an insecurity complex’ stated at the end of his speech: “Walking does make people win, perhaps not now, but maybe next time.” in reference to the enemy’s quip on our contingent’s habit of parading ’round the stage while speaking. A betrayal of trust, that was, the worst thing a debater could do in a debate – to concede.

Still, even though, again, the debate cup came so close yet still stayed out of our reach, our accolades speak for themselves. Best Debater, Best Speaker and Best Adjudicator. Helps wash away the sour taste of First Runner-Up.

Tags: Academics, Ateneo

Happy Feast Day!

Flisha — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 04:19:00 +0000

Today I woke up and there was no light nor water. It was a city blackout! Of course, the absence of water shouldn’t follow the absence of light, but it seems, in Zamboanga City, living a mere 5 kilometers away from the city proper necessitates the use of a water booster since without it, water would barely make it to your faucet.

As disgruntled as I was at the pesky nuisance of not having any water in the bathroom, I was more worried I couldn’t get to school, since after all, it IS the start of the Ateneo Fiesta, and furthermore, it’s the Feast of St. John Berchmans!

Aside from Christmas, Valentine’s and my birthday, one of my most favorite holidays is November 26, feast day of St. John Berchmans. Most people, even Catholics in the Philippines, don’t randomly celebrate saints’ memorial days unless it’s their town’s patron saint’s feast day, ‘coz that translates into their very own Barangay Fiesta, which is always a cause for a splashy celebration.

The reason that I celebrate November 26 is because St. John Berchmans is the name of my high school class (batch ’99). And ever since my HS freshman year, my classmates and I have viewed this day as one of the highlights of every year, since it means we get together and have a celebration, be it a picnic at La Vista, a mass at the Sacred Heart Chapel or a visit to the local orphanage.

Whenever I think of our feast day, though, I remember one thing. My best friend Christopher handing me a love letter to give to one of our classmates, whose birthday would fall on the following day. Back then I had a gigantic crush on my best friend, unfortunately, it was not to be… for the love letter was to be given to a boy. Yes, it broke my little teenaged heart. I had denied it for the longest time, my crush on him, and yes, his crush on boys.

Ironically, my best friend’s crush rejected the letter I had given to him from my best friend, leaving me to have to return it back to Chris. My only revenge was that that day, we both nursed bruised egos (but, thankfully, our hearts eventually mended!).

Anyways, if you’re wondering how the heck I was able to get to school without water, let me just declare that I did not come without bathing!!! (Eww, you’ve a filthy mind for even thinking it!)

I washed my hair outside in our backyard (the water only spurts out of the faucet when it’s close to the ground) and then I filled a whole bidon with water (took me 30 minutes!!!) and then, veins almost bursting with the effort, I half-hauled and half-pushed the very heavy bidon up to our bathroom in the house and washed my body!

St. John Berchmans, pray for us.

© Flisha for Random Detox, 2005. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: High School, Holidays, Zamboanga

Tags: Ateneo, High School, Holidays, Zamboanga

A Look Into the Life of a Medical Student

Flisha — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:23:00 +0000

“You are the resident on duty at the ER and an eleven year old boy is wheeled in. He was stung by a bee fifteen minutes ago, and is now in severe respiratory distress. His blood pressure is 40/50, pulse rate is 140 beats/minute, and has a respiratory rate of 34 breaths/minute. His capillaries refill in about 5 seconds and his nail beds as well as his lips are starting to turn blue. What will you do?”*

As my mind raced to think of how this patient was to be managed, I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline such as I get during debates. The above scenario was just one of the 108 questions I had to contend with a couple of hours ago during my exam in emergency medicine. The last few weeks rocked! It was a sharp contrast from our first few months in medical school. For the first time, we touched on topics ranging from syncope (fainting) to anaphylactic shock, which is a severe, life threatening allergic reaction. These were real medical issues based from real emergency cases, unlike the *yawns* how-to-prepare-a-good-acetate-slide module of the last month.

Last sunday was my first ER (emergency room) exposure and boy, was it thrilling! We were on duty from 11 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. The first two hours were uneventful. There was nothing to do but watch the Manny Paquiao versus Hector Velazquez super featherweight bout (Paquiao won by knock out on the 6th round! =P) shown on TV in the doctor’s quarters. They started coming in just after lunch. Our first trauma patient was a 20 something construction worker who came all the way from Olutanga in Zamboanga del Sur province. Two fingers of his left hand were missing and bits of skin and muscle were the only thing that kept a third digit from completely being severed from the rest of his hand. It turned out that he had boasted to his drinking buddies that a quitis (a type of firework-rocket) wouldn’t explode if he gripped it tighty (he reasoned out that since oxygen was needed for combustion, gripping the explosive tightly would prevent oxygen from entering thus preventing combustion). So much for poorly tested theories.

As the afternoon wore on, more patients streamed in. Most of them were MVA’s (motor vehicular accident victims). One elementary school teacher was hit by a motorcycle as she was crossing the street. She sustained a nasty cut on her head and a possible skull fracture. The intern in charge showed us how his gloved finger easily slid through the gaping wound and into the skull. As we were huddled around the school teacher, a middle aged man was rushed in with a bleeding ulcer. One of our instructors, who was on duty at the time, showed us how to perform a rectal exam and insert a nasogastric tube. My sympathies went out to the patient as he struggled to swallow the tube, gagging and choking along the way.

I guess the highlight of the day was when one of the interns let me handle a patient. Well ok, I didn’t exactly admit the patient but she let me take the history, do a complete physical and take the vitals. She even asked me what diagnostic tests I was to run and how I was to manage the patient. The best thing about this was that she agreed with what I thought should be done and that the patient was managed based on my suggestions. Haha! I went home that day feeling MD (murag doctor! hehe.)

The practical exams were fun!** I felt like Superman as I snatched a woman from the jaws of death, like McGuyver as I carefully threaded an improvised urinary catheter up a woman’s vagina. hehe. What was funny was my buddy Marvin’s reply after I asked him why he flunked the urinary catheter station. He said and I quote Cosa man yo sabe? Ya planta lang sila puki adelante kumigo kabar ya spera cosa yo ase! (What do I know they just placed a vagina in front of me and asked me what I should do with it!) Now that elicited a few laughs.

Feel the speed of thought. The words of my debate trainor echoed in my mind as I thought of what to do with an 11 year old boy in anaphylactic shock. Hmmm, maybe a dose of epinephrine would do. 0.1 mg/kg, 1:1000 dilution, IV. Or perhaps dyphenhydramine would do the trick? I opted for epinephrine followed by diphenhydramine. Here’s hoping I got it right! ;P

—————————————

*The actual exam question was changed to protect the writer from any exam leakage charges.

**The emergency medicine module culminated in an Objective Structural Clinical Exam (OSCE) which was held yesterday at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine. The OSCE’s involved simulated scenarios with simulated patients and rescusitation dummies.

Tags: Ateneo, Zamboanga

Returning to School

Flisha — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 11:13:00 +0000

When we’re in school, teachers always warn us about “the real world.” In school, we train ourselved to be prepared for “reality.” For sixteen years (or more, who’s counting?) I was in school and craved to go “outside.”

For two years I’ve seen the real world. I’ve come to the conclusion that the real world sucks. Enough. I’m going back to school! Not as a student, though.

Last week was my first six days on the job. Being back in the private workplace again is refreshing, having survived a whole year in government (and hated every single second of it but stuck on only for the money).

Initially I craved the post of web/graphic designer, but since that job was already taken, I was assigned the task of programming. And to add a bit to my meager salary (which I shall not divulge but let me just say it is half of what I used to get *but I am not complaining merely describing*), I am taking on 3 units of classes, equivalent to one subject. (Hopefully, also, I will be accepted for the part-time job of website manager).

There are 14 of us in the department, but two are leaving for their Master’s degrees. Three of us are newbies, three are my batchmates, four were my instructors and two are my new acquantances, soon-to-be-friends-I-hope.

I love my new job, though my officemates might not see it yet. See, I’m so quiet in the office ‘coz I’m shy. Hahaha. Shy daw o. But I’m warming up real quick. It’s hard not to warm up to your officemates when they’re all so kalog.

Prime example. It’s 6:00 PM and we’re in the office waiting for our respective classes (mine starts at 7:30PM unfortunately). There’s some slight chatter but mostly we’re on our PCs preparing lectures or surfing or what. R, at the end of the isle, is playing a PC game. Suddenly we hear a thudding sound coming from his computer, but he ignores it so it just keeps thudding. I surmise it is probably the game’s sound effects.

L, however, looks over and assesses the situation, then he blurts out in a really really loud voice, “Huy, R, tigilan mo daw yan. Nakakahiya!” Some of us muffle our giggles. (See, the thudding kinda sounds, um, bastos.) R ignores him and goes on playing. The sounds eventually get faster and faster, and L comments that R is nearing his “climax.” Then the sound stops. L says, “Masarap, bai?” Some of us break out in laughter. The the sound returns back with full force and L says, “Ay, hindi pa pala tapos. Grabe si R. Excited talaga.” He then looks at M, and tells her, “M, ikaw kasi nag-skirt ka pa, tingnan mo na-e-excite na talaga si R!” M blushes and tells off L, then hides in her cubicle. The rest of us try to contain our laughter.

L is pretty much like that all the time, riling up the rest of us, but most especially poor M. I think they kinda like each other but they’re denying it. Hmm, office affairs, yum! I can tell that relationship will develop in time.

Aside from liking my co-workers, I also love the new time flexibility I have. In government, you HAVE to be in office at 8AM sharp and 1AM sharp. You can leave only at 12NN sharp and 5PM sharp. If you need to leave at any other time, you must fill out a pass slip and if it’s approved, you can only leave for a maximum of 30 minutes. Otherwise you will counted as a absent. No wonder government employees start packing their things at 4:30PM!

Now, I can come and go as I please, though of course I make sure I keep at least 8 hours a day in office. On MWFs, I have to stay until 8:30PM due to my one and only class. I’m hoping I can change its schedule, though.

My class (the one and only) is a very fun class. They’re also kalog. I have one student who is very obssessed about his hometown. Every meeting he never fails to mention that he comes from Mercedes. His classmates tease him about it, but I think he does it on purpose to crack up the class.

Lots more to report but I have to rest. 11-hour days take their toll. Zzzz….

Tags: Ateneo

Spelunking at Quiniput

Flisha — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 14:14:00 +0000

Wow, I am dead tired. My legs feel like jelly and the muscles in my body are aching — a good kind of ache. The dull kind of ache that lingers to remind you of the exhausting yet tremendously enjoyable experience you had just recently.

Today I went caving with my best buddy and boyfriend, my baby Gimmi. Along with us were Gim’s thesis partner Marvin and the Ateneo Research Center staff Liezl and Lot and selected ARC student assistants. This event was funded by the ARC since they wanted to personally survey the caves in Gim’s and Marvin’s thesis, so we had a free ride and a free lunch. Yay!

Last time I went caving with Gim and Marvin was a year ago! Back then I knew how to climb up a flight of stairs. Today I can barely comprehend walking from Ateneo to City Hall (ya all know we gov people sit on our bums all day!). So you could just imagine the humongous effort it took for me to climb a mountain!!! I had to make frequent stops along the way to catch my breath (and regain feeling in my lower limbs). Poor Gim had to worry about me and stay beside me as the rest of the pack went forward, which resulted in us getting *lost* from the pack. Yes, Gimmi and I ended up in another cave. Fortunately, the cave we were supposed to visit wasn’t too far from where we had landed, and after trying out a few alternative routes (without a guide, mind you, since the locals were with the main group) we finally chanced upon them eating lunch at the entrance of the cave… whereupon we greeted them with relief and joined them for lunch. Unfortunately they were just finishing up, and dismayed were we, because, um, the utensils were with us!!! Our fellow spelunkers were forced to eat with their dirtied hands!!! Sheepishly we asked if anyone needed any napkins.

Oh well! It was good for their immunity anyway.

We haven’t developed the film yet so I’ll just post pics from last year’s escapades. (These are the same caves we visited today.)

The only difference is that Gim and Marvin have graduated and I’m much fatter. Sigh.

Tags: Ateneo, Photography